Clive Palmer is being investigated by Tasmanian's Electoral Commission over claims he may have broken political advertising laws.

The state's electoral commissioner is looking into whether Palmer United Party (PUP) pamphlets, which contained the names of other candidates who had not given their consent, breached the Electoral Act.

Tasmania's ALP president John Dowling raised concerns that the leaflets, which named Premier Lara Giddings and Opposition Leader Will Hodgman and were sent out to households, may have broken the rules.

But Mr Palmer says he has done nothing wrong and is prepared to go to jail.

"I don't feel I am restrained in naming any person in Australia, referring to them in relation to a public debate that's going on in the country and I don't think there is any law that seeks to stop that freedom of speech," he said.

"There's been no actions ever taken against anyone under Section 196.

"Are these the real issues, whether you take someone's photos or you refer to the name that they were christened as babies, is that the most important issue in Tasmania? I don't think it is.

"This system is not honest, it's not fair and it's not reasonable... I'm happy to go to jail for that, I'm happy to be like Ghandi and fight for the freedom of Tasmanians, because they've had enough."

Constitutional law expert Professor George Williams said it could cost Mr Palmer his seat in Federal Parliament if he is found to have broken the rules.

"Section 44 of the Constitution applies to disqualify any member of the Federal Parliament, House of Representative or Senate, if they're convicted of an offence where they could possibly go to jail for 12 months or more," he said.

"That means here, where you are dealing with an offence that does have that 12-month possible period, that a conviction could lead to a person losing their seat."

Jacqui Lambie 'did not write, design or submit' ad

It comes after the electoral commissioner began investigating on Monday whether a PUP newspaper advertisement for this weekend's state poll breached the same section of the Act.

PUP Senator-elect Jacqui Lambie has denied authorising the ad in The Mercury, which used photographs of other candidates without their permission, and says she has sought legal advice over the matter.

Senator-elect Lambie, who is the person named as authorising the ad, said she she did not write, design or submit it, and if she has done anything wrong she would "cop it sweet" but welcomed a chance to clear her name.

Electoral commissioner Julian Type said he suspected there had been a breach relating to the ad and he was now investigating who was to blame.

"The advertisement itself does appear to be in breach of section 196 of the Act; as to which person or persons committed that breach is rather a more grey matter," he said.

He said the law bans candidates from using the names and pictures of their opponents without consent because of the state's electoral system.

When you're authorising material and you're a political party you need to understand the law.

Premier Lara Giddings

"I believe that the reason may have been to prevent the production of how-to-vote cards because it's considered important in Tasmania's Hare-Clark system that voters decide their preferences among their candidates, even among the candidates of a particular party of their choice," he said.

Mercury says it has no agreement with PUP to scrutinise ad

Mr Palmer told the ABC Senator-elect Lambie was not to blame and she had "no knowledge of the ad".

"Normally, it was supplied by our advertising agents electronically to them (The Mercury) and the normal procedure is that their lawyers... decide whether they want to publish, print and distribute it and if they've got anything wrong with it they get back to the advertising agent," he said.

"In this case... they did and they're the ones responsible."

The Mercury newspaper says the ad was booked by the PUP through an interstate office, and 100 per cent supplied and created by them.

The newspaper's chief executive Rex Gardner says the matter is fast-becoming a Palmer United Party sideshow, clearly designed to attract free publicity.

"What we can say is that neither the Mercury nor News Corp has any agreement with the PUP to offer legal scrutiny of its political advertising," Mr Gardner said in a statement.

"This is clearly their responsibility – and in fact the advertising terms and conditions PUP agreed to specifically state that the advertiser warrants that the content complies with relevant laws and regulations.

"In placing their advertisements we took it in good faith from the PUP that they had their housekeeping matters sorted out internally."

Professor Williams says, if found guilty of breaking the law, Senator-elect Lambie could be disqualified from the Senate.